Ronan Collins (born 9 October 1952) is an Irish broadcaster from Glasnevin,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. Up until 23 December 2022, Collins held the prestige of maintaining one of the longest-running radio shows on Ireland’s national station, RTÉ Radio 1. At its peak, 250,000 listeners tuned in daily to ‘The Ronan Collins Show’ between 12pm - 1pm, Monday - Friday.

Life and career

Collins started his show business career as a member of a showband playing drums. He began his national radio career on

RTÉ Radio 2 (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

, having worked on pirate radio prior to that. During his television career, he presented the celebrity game show '' Play the Game'' from 1984 to 1995. He also used to present Ireland’s national lottery draw, and most recently A Little Bit Showband (2008–2009). Collins has commentated on the Eurovision Song Contest for

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís ...

television. He was a presenter as part of RTE's 1992 Barcelona Olympics coverage, shaving off his moustache when Ireland won a medal. Ronan Collins left his daily lunchtime show at the end of 2022, to be replaced by Louise Duffy. He now presents a regular music show ''The Collins Collection'' on bank holidays and will present shows for RTÉ Gold. Collins has been married to Woody since 1978, they have three children. In 2012, Collins was diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinati ...

Controversies

Collins once had a memorably famous row with Louis Walsh on '' Liveline''. Collins described Six's debut single "There's a Whole Lot of Loving Going On" as "absolutely awful" and "lacking in credibility, imagination and musicianship". Walsh called Collins "a failed showband star" who played in "Mickey Mouse bands" and told him to "go and save the kids around the world".

References

External links

Website of ''The Ronan Collins Show''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Ronan 1952 births Living people Television personalities from Dublin (city) RTÉ 2fm presenters RTÉ Radio 1 presenters RTÉ television presenters People educated at St. Vincent's C.B.S., Glasnevin Eurovision commentators